#15 – BA SI at FU RUN

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

Chinese cuisine is generally not known for its dessert options. Aside from some orange wedges and fortune cookies, there are some decent red bean and green tea desserts in Chinatown, but these don’t usually satisfy my sweet tooth. In fact, our server at Fu Run even assumed we weren’t interested in any dessert when she dropped the check prematurely. And we probably wouldn’t have looked twice at the sweets menu here if one of the items weren’t on the Time Out list.

That item is called Ba Si and it is by far the best dessert I’ve ever had at a Chinese restaurant. And one of the most unique and exciting desserts I’ve ever had. Ba Si translates to “pulling thread,” which is hard to imagine in the context of dessert. The dish consists of chunks of starch – apples, sweet potatoes, and taro root – that have been deep fried and then doused with caramelized sugar. You have to grab one with your chopsticks and as the cube separates from the rest, a large thin piece of caramel forms looking like a “pulling thread.”

But that’s just half the show. Then you have to dunk it quickly in a bowl of water to cool the sugars and allow it to solidify to a crunchy, caramel crust. Popping them in your mouth is positively addicting. I loved the shell-like texture (it reminded me of the top of creme brulee) that gives way to hot sweet starchy treats. Instinctively, I wanted to dunk this into a sauce, but it didn’t need anything else and the fondue-like act of using the water was sufficient.

This was the crowning achievement in a very good meal. This is one of the only restaurants in the city serving food from the Dongbei region of northern China. Its influences are pretty diverse and the flavors are spicy, sour, and fatty. I really loved the green bean sheet jelly appetizer, which is a cross between a crunchy refreshing shrimp salad and a spicy, cold mung bean noodle dish with vegetables and wasabi oil. The Muslim Lamb Chops, which is the restaurant’s signature dish, were dramatically covered with cumin seeds. The charred lamb chops (which were actually the breast) falls right off the bone, layered with juicy fat, and full of pleasant spicy cumin flavor. This is a unique hearty dish that I’ve been craving ever since.

The dumplings were the only thing we didn’t absolutely love (I posted a separate review on those) and we left feeling completely satiated. Which is not always the case at Chinese restaurants. I’m not usually happy unless I get my dessert and I couldn’t have asked for a better one here.

Would Fu Run’s Ba Si make my Top 100 of the year? Absolutely. In fact, they topped my list last year getting a 10 out of 10 for the playful, delicious, sugary experience.